#(this is from marvel two-in-one annual 2)

[zaptap]

[aemondsbabe]

Making Amends

summary: a fancy party & praising || you finally see why michael hates going home for the holidays and treat him the way he deserves

pairing: michael gavey x f!reader

warnings: mature/explicit, 18+ (minors dni!), no use of y/n, afab reader, breast/nipple play, heavy praise, riding, brief cockwarming, cursing, brief mention of daddy kink but it’s not used, dirty talk, angy michael (not at reader), angst but happy ending, parents being stupid, choking, let me know if i missed anything!

word count: 3.4k

a/n: happy day twelve of 12 days of smuff!!! we did it!!! a very merry christmas to all those who celebrate; i hope your holidays are full of love and fun! I hope y’all enjoy this one & i look forward to writing many more stories in the new year!

TAUNT | Part 1

PRAISE | Taunt Part 2

this one can be read as a continuation of taunt & praise or as a stand alone!!

12 days of smuff masterlist!

likes, comments, & reblogs are very appreciated but never required!

🌟add yourself to my taglist to be notified when i post new fics!

“Ohh, Michael!” An older woman croons, making you and your boyfriend turn your heads at the same time, “How lovely to see you!” 

“Nice to see you too, Aunt Janet.” Michael says, his voice monotone, and gives the woman an awkward half-hug. You give him a sympathetic grin when he rolls his eyes at you over her shoulder.

“And who is this?” She asks, turning to look you up and down with a smile.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Michael explains, taking a second to introduce the two of you, “We met at uni.” 

“Nice to meet you.” You smile politely and shake her hand. 

“How wonderful!” She turns to you and puts a hand on your forearm before leaning in slightly with a grin, “We were beginning to give up on this one ever finding someone to put up with him!” She grins, giggling like it’s the funniest joke in the world. 

You merely awkwardly chuckle, though it only takes one glance at Michael to know he’s fuming. You can’t really blame him, this is how it’s been all evening, ever since you’d arrived at his parents house. Michael had tried to talk you out of accompanying him to their annual Christmas party, claiming that hell would be a lesser punishment, but you’d insisted, saying it couldn’t be that bad. 

When you’d first pulled up to the Gavey’s home, you’d been excited! They’d gone all out with the decorations, though Michael claimed they usually did, but that didn’t stop you from marveling at all the garland, lights, and wreaths that adorned every inch of the house. And since this year’s party was apparently more formal than usual, that just gave you the chance to ogle at your boyfriend in a tux, which was an automatic win in your book.

And yet, here you are, listening to yet another joke at Michael’s expense and hating every second of it. It seemed like every relative and family friend had one in store, if it wasn’t about finally finding someone to put up with him, it was about what he must’ve done to bribe you into it, or that he must be paying you to be here. Not to mention the backhanded compliments; you’d grown so tired of hearing remarks about how they’re so happy that Michael had finally found someone or, “Oh, finally! Took him long enough!” 

“Old fucking bat,” Michael mutters under his breath as Aunt Janet totters off, “Knew we shouldn’t have come.” He grumbles, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

“M’sorry, babe,” you sigh, giving him a small half smile as you place a comforting hand on his leg, “I don’t understand why they can’t simply be nice.

He scoffs next to you, rolling his eyes with a sardonic smile, “Wouldn’t be a real Gavey Christmas without snide comments, fucking losers.” 

The evening continues in the same fashion and suddenly you understand why Michael has always been so defensive and eager to prove himself, you would be too in a family like this. 

You can tell your boyfriend is operating on a very short fuse and offer him a placating smile every time you notice him clenching his jaw or notice his breathing pick up, chest heaving under his black suit jacket. 

However, it’s finally a comment his father makes during dinner that sets him off. You’ve hardly started eating when it happens, with everyone sitting around the Gavey’s impressively large dining room table passing various dishes back and forth. 

“So,” Mrs. Gavey started, giving Michael a pointed look as she refilled her glass of wine, “How were your marks this term?” 

You glance down in time to see your boyfriend white knuckle his fork and quickly stroke a hand over his knee, which seems to help lessen his tension somewhat, thankfully. 

“Distinctions,” he answers dryly, keeping his eyes fixed on the table, “Obviously.” 

His mom simply nods, not offering any praise or even a generic, “Well done,” much to your surprise. 

And a few seconds later, everything blows up. 

“How’s that friend of yours doing?” Mr. Gavey butts in, setting his steak knife down as he speaks, “What was his name? Owen… Oscar, maybe?” 

“Oliver.” Michael corrects him, so quickly and quietly that you’re surprised his dad even catches it. 

“Oliver! Of course, and how’s he doing? Hm? You haven’t mentioned him in some time.” 

There’s a beat of silence in which you fight the urge to kick Mr. Gavey under the table, knowing exactly where this would go. 

“We don’t… talk anymore. I haven’t seen him for ages.” He grits out; his leg tenses up under your palm once again when his mother lets out a disappointed sigh, as if she were getting ready to scold a small child. 

“Michael, honestly,” she starts with a small shake of her head, “It’s not good for you to be so socially isolated all the time.” 

“I’m fine.”

“What about that other boy you used to go around with, hm?” His mom continues on, seemingly oblivious to his foul mood, “The one you were so close to in primary school, oh, he was lovely.” 

“Felix, wasn’t it?” Mr. Gavey quips, “Whatever happened to him? I always thought he had such a good head on his shoulders.” 

“He’s a cunt.” Your boyfriend seethes lowly, all but vibrating with rage as he spits each word out. 

“What was that, dear?” His mom asks, none the wiser. 

“He’s a cunt!” Michael exclaims, his fork clattering across the table as he tosses it down, scraping his chair back across the floor. 

“Michael!” Mrs. Gavey chides, a horrified look on her normally placid face as she, quite literally, clutches at her pearls. 

“If you’ll fucking excuse me.” Michael mutters, tossing his cloth napkin down onto the table with a dull thud before retreating from the table with a growl. 

The silence that follows is deafening as everyone stays frozen at the table for a moment; you have to bite the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing at the shell shocked expression on his grandmother’s face. 

After a beat, Mr. and Mrs. Gavey begin falling all over themselves to apologize, awkwardly laughing as they make excuses for Michael, as if their bullying hadn’t made him snap. 

“I’m gonna go check on him,” you say after a moment, giving polite smiles to his parents as you stand from the table, “Just to make sure he’s okay.” 

“Of course, dear,” his mother nods sagely, ever the beacon of motherly wisdom, “We know how sensitive little Michael is.” 

As soon as your back is turned you roll your eyes, nose wrinkling in disgust. Little Michael? What the fuck? 

It only takes you a minute to locate him upstairs as you quickly spot the door to his childhood bedroom tightly closed. You smile sadly as you walk over to it, you pause for a moment before knocking softly. 

“Michael?” You call, pressing an ear against the door, “You in there?” Your brows furrow when you hear a small sniffle from the other side of the door and your hand automatically goes to the doorknob, a sigh of relief leaving you when it easily turns. 

Your heart breaks when you push the door open and peek inside, quickly spotting Michael on his bed, head in his hands, shoulders shaking. 

“Oh,” you breathe, hastily closing the door as you let yourself into his room, “Michael.” You sigh, sitting beside him on his small twin bed and slinging an arm around his shoulders. 

“M’fine…” He says softly, dejectedly. 

“You are not,” you pull him to you, rubbing a hand over his bicep as you hold him closely, “No one would expect you to be, not after all that.” 

He merely nods and tucks his head into your neck, sniffling sadly as his blond hair tickles your chin, one arm wraps around you while he busies himself with plucking lightly at the hem of your dress, running his finger over the smooth satin seam. 

“You wanna talk about it?” You ask softly, pressing a sweet kiss to the crown of his head. 

“Not tonight,” his voice is muffled slightly against your collarbone as he speaks, “Please.” 

You nod, opting to stay quiet and simply hold him for the time being. 

You don’t know how much time passes but eventually, he seems to calm down, at least his shoulders stop trembling and he stops rubbing at his eyes and sniffling. 

Finally, once his breathing has evened out, you decide to speak up. 

“They don’t deserve you.” You murmur, pulling back just enough to meet his gaze, your heart twisting when you see his beautiful blue eyes rimmed with red. 

“Love…” He sighs, ready to fight you on it. 

“That’s all I wanted to say,” you assure him quickly, “They don’t.” 

You hold his face in your hands gently, studying him with a soft smile. He really did look delectable in his suit, so smartly put together and polished. 

Michael must be feeling the same way, no doubt riding the small high that usually came after a solid rush of emotion. His eyes darken as he looks back at you, Adam’s apple bobbing enticingly in his throat as he swallows thickly. 

You don’t know who moves first, unable to find it within yourself to care as his warm lips slot perfectly against your own. 

A relieved groan sounds from his chest and his hands immediately come up to cup your waist, his thumbs rubbing appreciatively over the soft material of your dress as you shiver, already getting lost in his touch. 

“Mikey,” you murmur, biting into your lower lip as he kisses down across your jaw, his hands scrambling to pull you into his lap, “S-Should we?” Your voice trembles as he gently sucks at the sensitive spot on your neck, drawing your mind further and further from the party taking place downstairs. 

“Need you,” he rasps, unable to stop himself from smirking as you keen against him when he skirts his hands up your form to cup your breasts through your dress, your nipples already hard and wanting against the satin, “Just – I need you, love.”

He’s so desperate, you couldn’t say no and finally decide to throw caution to the wind. You smile triumphantly as you run your hands over his trim waist, tucking them under his jacket to get closer to him, savoring the feel of his warm skin even through the thin material of his button down. 

Finally, you push the suit jacket off his shoulders and, needing to feel him against you, waste no time hastily undoing the buttons on his shirt, yanking it out from under his trousers and belt before quickly dropping both to the floor. 

Apparently just as impatient, Michael chooses to simply push the thin straps of your dress off of your shoulders and growls deeply when your dress falls down your chest, exposing your breasts to his hungry gaze. Without missing a beat, he pulls you closer to him, groaning as your core presses tightly against his still-clothed erection. As soon as your chest is level with his face, he mouths at the underside of your breast, cupping the other in his hand. He peers up at you through his glasses, already fogging up against his cheeks, as he wraps his pink lips around your nipple and gingerly sucks it into his mouth, groaning against your supple skin at the breathy moan you let out. 

You hold his head against your chest, fingers gripping tightly at his short hair as your head tilts back, small whimpers and whines escaping past your lips as you try your best to stay quiet. Your hips seem to move of their own accord, rocking against him as he worships your breasts. 

“Michael,” you whimper, your core clenching tightly when you look down and take in his flushed face. You press your lips against his again, frantically kissing him as your tongue invades his mouth, “What do you want?”

“You.” His reply is automatic, his hands kneading greedily at your tits as he stares up at you, bare chest already heaving. 

You can’t help but chuckle a little, pride blooming in your chest at the fact that he’s already this strung out. Nevertheless, you give a quick shake of your head, smirking when he whines impatiently. 

“How do you want me, Mikey?” 

The desperate look behind his eyes softens instantly, his pink lips parting enough to reveal the tiniest sliver of his front teeth. Somehow, he blushes more and just barely shakes his head at you, swallowing thickly like he always does when he’s flustered. 

“Can you be on top?” He asks quietly, blue eyes flitting between yours behind his gold-rimmed glasses, “I just – I don’t have it in me to be daddy tonight, love.” He confesses quickly.

You chuckle again, always impressed with him when he shows his more vulnerable side, and instantly you nod, cupping his soft cheeks again. 

“Of course I can do that,” you keep your voice soft, even the small kiss you give him is soft, “Lay back for me, yeah? I don’t wanna wait.”

  Nodding eagerly, he doesn’t waste time and leans back on the narrow bed, helping you climb atop him as he does. He groans appreciatively as you settle on his hips, licking his lips as he stares up at you. He watches as your breasts heave with every breath while his hands trace down over your hips to cup your ass. 

“You’re so beautiful, love,” he murmurs, tugging your dress up over your bum before kneading the supple flesh, watching intently as you whimper above him, “So soft and pretty and fuck– fucking perfect.” He finishes with a growl, blue eyes rolling back when you rock down against him. 

Heat courses through your veins at his words and you hurry to undo his belt, the metal buckle tinkling softly in the quiet of his bedroom as you push it to the side, too frantic to bother to pull it off him entirely. Your fingers quickly find the button of his trousers and you all but yank them open the second you have the zipper undone, sighing happily as his hard cock bobs against his stomach, the head already flushed and steadily leaking. 

“Jesus Christ,” he groans, his back arching a little with the relief of his erection finally being freed, “Y’gonna ride me, princess?”

“Mhm,” you nod with a smirk, wiggling on his lap as you situate yourself perfectly above his length, “You deserve to be taken care of, Michael.” You coo softly, bending forward a little to pull your lacy underwear to the side, not having the patience to properly remove them.

Your comment seems to have gone to your boyfriend’s head and you smirk when you feel his cock jump up, twitching against your center as a soft groan leaves him. You bite your lip when you grab his length, loving how warm it felt in your hand. Carefully, you position him at your dripping center and slot the head against your entrance. 

Both of you moan in unison as you sink down slowly, his thick length filling you completely as your hips finally press against his. 

“Goddammit,” he curses, roughly grabbing your ass as he squeezes his eyes shut, trying to keep himself anchored even though he knows in the back of his mind it’s useless with how tightly you’re gripping him, “You feel so fucking good, pretty girl, fucking love this sweet little cunt.” 

His praises go straight to your core and you clench around him, somehow tighter, making him grunt underneath you. Bracing your hands on his shoulders, you start moving your hips over him, using your thighs to push off of his lap before sinking back down, whining when you feel the head of his cock press perfectly against that delicious little spot inside you.

“You’re so good, Mikey, fuck,” you pant, fighting to keep your eyes open to savor each expression that crosses his flushed face, “Y-You feel so perfect, holy shit, everything about you is perfect.”

He groans deeply, lower lip trembling as he stares up at you in awe, brows furrowed as he takes in every inch of you. Blue eyes trace slowly over your form, lingering on your face before looking over your breasts. He swallows thickly as he pauses to watch them bounce tantalizingly, matching every one of your thrusts against him. Eventually, he looks down and moans softly, watching your slick pussy move over his length. 

“Yeah, princess?” He encourages, making you smile softly as you realize how badly he needs this, how badly he needs to be told how good he is. 

“Y-Yeah, shit,” you whimper, head spinning when he leans up to lick over one of your nipples, gently suckling at the bud as you continue, “You’re the best, Michael, fuck – best boyfriend, you’re so smart and s-so precious and f-funny and – and God!”

You practically squeal when his thumb comes down to rub at your clit, your eyes crossing at the sudden jolt of pleasure that washes over you. 

“I love you, holy fuck,” you huff, thighs burning as you move somehow quicker over him, “I love you, I love – oh, shit – everything about you.” Your voice is hoarse as you breathe through soft pants, practically squirming on top of him as your head spins every time he circles his thumb over you. 

“I love you too, princess,” he hums, pulling you down for a quick, desperate kiss, “You’re so damn good to me.”

“You deserve it,” you say quickly, swallowing as you pant above him, your heart hammering wildly in your chest, “You deserve everything, Michael, you’re so, so good.” 

He growls at that, lips parting as he watches you. He keeps circling a thumb over your clit but fans the rest of his fingers out, holding your hip more securely. You hardly have time to think before you squeak in surprise, gasping as he begins rutting his hips up into you, the tip of his cock hitting your sensitive spot at a dizzying speed. 

“O-Oh, shit!” You huff, eyes wide and wild, “Michael, Mikey, I –” You cut yourself off with a loud cry, too loud given the circumstances, but your brain whites out the second he reaches up and wraps a hand around your throat, not tightly enough to choke you but enough to hold you steady above him. 

“Y’close, love?” He pants, smirking when you quickly nod, “Fucking cum with me, princess, shit, you fucking deserve it.” He hisses through clenched teeth.

All you can do is obey, your fingernails digging harshly into his shoulders as your high finally washes over you. You freeze, tensing up above him as you cry out, uncaring for the party below as your cunt clenches tightly around his length, rhythmically milking him. 

“Shit, shit, fuck,” he grunts beneath you, eyes rolling back as he feels your walls contracting around his cock, drawing his own high from him as well, “Good girl, good girl.” He praises before finally cumming with a snarl. You whimper when you feel him twitch inside you, coating your walls with his thick spend. 

The two of you lay panting for a while, neither of you wanting to get up or break the spell of the safe little bubble you seem to be stuck in as you lazily press kisses against whatever bits of skin you can reach. 

Eventually, the sound of holiday music seems to float up to you from downstairs, along with the sounds of laughter and loud conversation. In the background, you can just barely make out the sound of wrapping paper tearing and taped boxes being pulled open. 

“Sounds like it’s time for gifts,” you muse, tracing shapes on Michael’s chest as he holds you to him, softening length still buried within you, “You wanna join them again?”

He hums softly and shakes his head no with a small smile before tilting his head to look at you, his glasses sitting slightly crooked on his nose as he studies your flushed face. One hand rubs soothingly over your back as he holds you tightly to him, relishing the way your soft skin feels against him.

“Don’t need any gifts from those entitled idiots,” he laughs softly and leans down just enough to press a soft, sweet kiss to your forehead, “I have the most perfect gift right here with me already.”

tagged lovelies: @helloworldiamnotarobot @drakonflames @marysucks-blog @watercolorskyy @valeskafics @iamaegontargaryenwife0 @aemshaircare @1997babyyyy @lovellies @little-moonbeam-666 @blackswxnn @alerisc @fan-goddess @wickedfrsgrl @moonriseoverkyoto @echos-muses @schniiipsel @avidreader73 @marvelescvpe @imawhorecrux @grsveeth0m @rae-11 @ms-morningstaarr @chaotic-fangirl-blog @wolfdressedinlace @cl-0-vr @kittendoll05 @beautbuck @eponaartemisa @trshngyn @brettlovessuckingcocks @alerisc

(tags are based on your answers to my google form; if you were mistakenly tagged, please contact me & update your answers on the form! thank you!)

[hexhomos]

Sorry, I'm asking here because asks aren't on your doomreed account, but do you have any fic recs for them ? You and vinnies art have intrigued me 😭 they both seem like such wet cats in different ways, and I love that

help i didnt know asks were off fixed that now thank you... I have two fics i keep in my back pocket as like, exemplary distillations of their whole thing (one in college vs one of their usual superhero stuff,) these are;

Supersymmetry and Night Blooms

Rly good examples of their usual shenanigans, the second one is directly based on a canon comic issue that *feels* like fanfic by a prolific yaoi author, the first is set in a modern-time re-imagining of the fantastic four where they meet in a supergenius internship thinktank for gifted youngsters. There's other fics that are good but i think they might be super confusing without canon context! which leads me to my second point. After you read these fics...

A lot, and i mean A LOT of official doomreed stuff feels straight up like fanfic. Either because its so beautifully woven or insane in concept (doctor doom points a gun at the real life Jack Kirby and Stan Lee to get himself written back into reed's life in his 3rd ever classic appearance, in the 60's, THAT'S the bodyswap issue)

or because the literal authors themselves come out to say 'they're soulmates' or 'they're in love' and Im talking abt this:

(^joseph culp, the first ever doom actor from 1994)

(^fantastic four (2019))

I've got even more stuff under the cut!! AND recs!!! CLICK! v v v

(^jonathan hickman, author of arguably the best FF saga & Secret Wars (2015)!!!)

(^Cantwell, author of the Doctor Doom comic!!)

These are excerpts from the canon fantastic four book, DOOMGATE:

There's even an RPG INSTRUCTION MODULE based on the idea of an earth where Reed & Victor partner up in college, Reed dies a tragic death (via their lab experiments) and Victor assumes such a traumatized widow role in his honor that he grows up to be a golden hero and protector of earth LOL (still a bit nuts):

This is not even to touch on the breadth of all their comic issues and little moments together. Victor canonically delivers Reed's second child and he chooses her name! Shes treated like his child too and calls him uncle doom!!

...Victor even asks Reed out on candlelit dinner dates for a yearly Latverian holiday!

In fact, that's the great starter doom/reed issue i keep recommending: read [ My Dinner With Doom right here. ]

If you enjoy that, check out my [ broader post guide for doomreed reading. ]

Still on the fence? try out these single comic issues:

Doctor Doom:

*Fantastic Four (1961) annual 2 (Classic origin of Doom issue) *Some call it MAGIC (the introduction of Doom's struggle w/ the devil for his mother's soul)

Doomreed:

*Marvel Two-in-One (2017) annual 1 *Marvel Two-in-One (2017) #11 (2nd fic i linked is based on this!!!!!!!!!) *'Duel Intentions' short story *Doom 2099 (2019) *Fantastic Four #700 special *Shame Itself (noncanon satire mini)

Anyway I've had a lot of fun reading these series generally and their big, year-spanning arcs are incredible. People hype up Secret Wars for a reason, Hickman's fantastic four builds up a really compelling doom/reed epic of cosmic divorce proportions. And its about love! And Forgiveness!

[oolhan]

Too Many Beds

welp. I've managed to make some decent writing out of @waywardangel-wilds's blog about reversed tropes lol. This is unbeta-ed and all so here goes nothing!

Part 2 is here and 3 is already up here

Part 1:

It started innocently enough. Their friend group after college always had an annual trip somewhere far from their busy lives from their respective cities. Three years ago, they did the Bahamas with Delly's boyfriend Thom as their local tourist guide. Because of the good weather and the white sands, the island was packed with tourists. They almost fought the receptionist of a dingy motel just to secure four tiny spaces. One for the couple, another for Finnick and Gale, Johanna and Annie's, and the last door for both of them.

Katniss and Peeta, bestfriends since childhood. Witnessed each other's puberty and insecurities, pulling all nighters just to be handed with diplomas, presenting those diplomas in countless job hunts. Found themselves only a block away from their workplaces, Katniss a columnist for the city's paper, Peeta baking all day at the nearby posh pastry shop.

So, sharing the tiny bed for two nights in a vacation shouldn't be weird at all, right? They've seen it all. Almost.

So, they did. Ironically enough it didn't feel weird at all. It felt the opposite, actually. What is that opposite though?

After those two nights of fitful sleep, it became an unspoken agreement they share a room in the next trips. They shared an old rickety bedpost with just a mattress and no duvet covers in some hut in Thailand last two years ago. A mattress with no bedpost when they decided backpacking across Europe was fun and their hostel in Barcelona only had three rooms for the 8 of them. A big enough couch in Austria. Wrestled a tiny blanket in Portugal.

No one in their group questioned their sharing, only teasing glances from Johanna and Annie in that Bahamas trip.  Because it felt natural, it felt fitting.

The conditions were weird, but it was okay. She likes the excuse she gets just to feel his arms spoon her, even just for a night. It became Katniss' favorite thing to anticipate in these vacations. Yet, she's never admitting that to anyone because after they come home and separate again at the airport, some sort of spell dies and only reawakens on next year's trip. For some reason they never sleep together even when visiting the apartment of the other. Really though, it was innocent cuddling between two childhood friends.

Peeta on the other hand, barely keeps it together. Sure, the sharing was innocent, and he likes the feel of her limbs bumping and tying with his own, but God does he want to just cocoon her in his chest, smell the fragrance of her hair, play with the strands, fidget his fingers on the circles of her shoulders. But he knew it's weird to do, and it may only make her uncomfortable.

And so, in those few nights they lay together in the past three years, he musters up most of the restraint he can. Because it was painful enough to just be friends with her, painful enough to hide the fact that he was a goner ever since they were five and never took the chance to confess, painful enough to witness her grow into a beautiful woman and hang out with jerks like Cato in high school and Marvel in college.

He'll fall apart if he admitted his feelings and she break up their friendship. Not when he can get these borrowed moments instead. Not when they're almost 30. Innocent sleeping, right?

No. Not when she wore some skimpy sleep shorts because she complained it was too humid in the tropical island. Not when she can feel his morning wood against her backside on mornings when she's the first to wake. Not when a housekeeper complimented how good of a couple they look when she carried some extra towels in their room, teasing with innuendos on her way out that made both blush and frantic.

Fuck those shorts, he thinks as he tries to pry his eyes away and concentrate on getting the shading right. He was propped up on the bed post, sketching away as a habit before sleeping and he has a good view of her ass bent over the end of her bed, arranging clothes on her luggage.

"What?" She glanced his way. Shit. Did he say that out loud?

"What?" He tries to keep a normal tone, his shading shaky.

"What about these shorts?" She's standing now with her hands on her hip, challenging him. What's wrong with her sleepwear?

"I-" before he could answer though, her phone rings. Her sister was calling all the way from New York, finishing medicine at NYU. Katniss' tone is cheerful when she answered Prim, though her mind lingers in Peeta's soft aggressive whisper. She settled on the bed cross legged.

"Hey! just checking in on you. How's Paris?" Prim's walking while on a video call, and Peeta hears her stride. He abandons his sketchbook and jumps close to Katniss over her shoulder to greet Prim.

"Oh, it's bad, duck. She shits on pain au chocolat. Uncultured and rude. Can you believe that?"

"Shut up! I was only being honest, it's overrated,"

"Honesty is not shitting on food," Woah. He's way too close now. She flusters as she notices the lesser gap. He smells fresh from the shower.

She covers it up with an eyeroll. There.

"I think she just misses your buns, Peeta," They saw Prim wiggle her eyebrows comically in the phone. She rolls her eyes again. God, not Prim too. If Peeta even flushed from the teasing, he doesn't show.

"Where are you off to, anyway?" Katniss steers the conversation, subtly shying away from Peeta.

"I actually have a make-up class in Bio and I'm running late but I wanted to see you for a minute. Paris looks good on you," Prim's video was shaky now from her walk-run.

"Yeah yeah, I'll send you pictures tomorrow morning. Or tonight, or your morning. I don't know," Katniss chuckles.

Peeta loves her most in these moments with her sister. He's always entertained by their sisterly banter and unfiltered bickering. Things far from the physical jokes and pranks from his brothers, like random hard punches on the shoulder or being locked up in the bakery's store room.

"And you finally got your own beds this time! No more cramping in one bed," Prim says, which irritated and startled Katniss enough because ugh, she didn't want to get awkward with Peeta, especially when they already got some tension lingering. She couldn't roll her eyes enough to disperse the growing tension.

"Uh-yeah-finally, Cinna's a bit lavish,"

"Yeah, but that doesn't keep away her snores," Peeta added good naturedly, trying his best not to sound disappointed or whatever.

Because when Cinna decided earlier to welcome the group in his enormous apartment in Paris above his tailoring shop, he became a generous host. Provided them with enough toiletries, towels, full pantry of food, and of course, beds for each of them. Two twin beds per room, and so they divided by couple, leaving Peeta and Katniss staring at the most spacious room they've ever been on their trips.

What if they just move the bedframes together and make one giant fluffy king size mattress?

No, no. That's ridiculous. And stupid. That's like crossing some kind of boundary. So as much as they want to, they remain stubborn and got to unpacking. Besides, they'll only be here for the night. After that they can sleep again together like before in a small Venice hostel tomorrow, right?

"Well, two beds or not, you can always share-"

"Okay goodbye duck, I hope you trip on the sidewalk and fall flatfacewithyourmatchalattespillingalloveryouuu," Katniss taps the end button and tosses her phone on the bed.

"Come on dude, just admit you like sleeping with this," Peeta grabs her hand and press it on her chest, enjoying how she blushes with his and Prim's teasing abilities.

"fuck you, I'll kill you in your sleep," She scowls and pulls her hand away. He's roaring with laughter. She doesn't indulge the fact she likes feeling his broad skin under her palm.

"No seriously, we're used to sleeping side by side. Let's just move the frames... or you can sleep in mine,"

Fuck. Why is he so blunt about this?

"Or I could just sleep with you on this. Ah, so soft," he lays down with his arms cradling his head. He knows she'll be convinced if he tries to play it casually.

Very, very tempting. But Katniss is stubborn, and instead grabs the pillow beneath his head and smack him with it. "Hey!"

"Fuck off my bed Mellark. Go to your own," she directs with little conviction. A little more, just convince me a little more.

He sits up and feigns disappointment, even though he is really disappointed. "I'm serious, let's just sleep together..." He stares her up with those piercing blue eyes.

Tension grows by millimeter with their stare and hitching breaths.

Is he really serious? Is this okay? Why is he so casual about this?

"Just get off my bed, Peeta. It's the first in weeks I can sleep with my head on a real pillow,"

So she's not convinced with casual talk.

A beat.

“Okay fine, just don’t set your alarm so loud,” He stands and reaches for his abandoned sketchbook. She already misses the weight of him on her bed.

“Fine then. Don’t stay up late with the lights on. Opening the window is enough,” she settles on her pillows.

“Fine,”

Blankets rustles on both ends, lamps turn off.

“Goodnight, Peeta…”

“Sweet dreams, Katniss.”

They pretend to not notice the other still not asleep. It was a restless night.

[jooheons]

spider-man 2099 / miguel o’hara reading guide 

miguel o’hara was a young genetics genius employed at mega corporation alchemax, in the future city of nueva york of the year 2099 (a future universe where all superheroes got wiped out). he became spider-man when one of his experiments to replicate the powers of spider-man is used against him, his dna is rewritten and became fifty percent spider. 

essential reading:

spider-man 2099 (1992), #1-10

spider-man 2099, #11-14

spider-man 2099 annual, #1

2099 unlimited #1-3 *

spider-man 2099, #15

ravage 2099, #15 *

x-men 2099, #5 *

doom 2099 (1993), #14 *

punisher 2099 (1993), #13 *

spider-man 2099, #16-22

spider-man 2099, #23-33

2099 unlimited #8 *

ghost rider 2099 #7 *

spider-man 2099, #34-38

spider-man 2099 special #1

spider-man 2099 meets spider-man #1

2099 unlimited #9-10 *

spider-man 2099, #39-46 *

2099: world of tomorrow (1996), #1-8 *

2099: manifest destiny *

* in early 1996, editor joey cavalieri was fired. it led to the cancellation of the 2099 titles. for spider-man 2099′s case, peter david (creator and writer) chose to resign in solidarity with his editor, finishing his run with issue #44. the last two issues of spider-man 2099 were done without his input and the series ended with issue #46.

* cross-overs are optional reading, they’re grouped together with the original spider-man 2099 issues because it’s part of their collection. 

non-essential reading (crossovers):

fantastic four 2099 (1996), #4, #6, #8

captain marvel (2000) #27-30

exiles (2001-2008), #72 *

exiles #75-99 

exiles annual #1

timestorm 2009-2099 (2009),  #1–4 *

* exiles!miguel is a variant (not the same from his 1992 run), he’s from earth-6375 here. 

* timestorm!miguel is a variant, he’s from earth-96099 here.

semi-essential reading (main marvel universe):

superior spider-man (2013),  #17-21

superior spider-man #22-26

superior spider-man annual #1

superior spider-man #27-31

superior spider-man annual #2 

essential reading (spider-verse event):

spider-man 2099 (2014) #1-5

amazing spider-man (2014) #1

amazing spider-man (2014) #9-15

spider-man 2099 (2014), #6-12

spider-man 2099 (2015), #1-5

spider-man 2099 (2015), #6-10

spider-man 2099 (2015), #11-16

spider-man 2099 (2015), #17-21

spider-man 2099 (2015), #22-25

spider-man 2099 meets spider-man (1995)

amazing spider-man (2018), #32-36

semi-essential reading (back to 2099):

spider-man 2099 (2019)

spider-man 2099: exodus alpha (2022)

spider-man 2099: exodus #1-5

spider-man 2099: exodus omega

spider-man 2099: dark genesis #1-5

other media:

spider-man: shattered dimensions (2010, video game)

spider-man: edge of time (2011, video game)

ultimate spider-man, the spider-verse: part 1 (2015, animated series)

spider-man: into the spider-verse (2018, film)

spider-man: across the spider-verse (2023, film)

this reading guide will be updated should any upcoming projects arise! 

[amageish]

So, Felicia Hardy mentions having a girlfriend in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and this has resulted in a lot of discussion... I wanna talk about it!

One thing I find really interesting about the conversation is that so many articles discussing it credit Felicia's bisexuality to this moment from 2021, where she and Odessa Drake have an on-panel kiss followed by an off-panel one-night-stand.

While this is pretty friggin' gay and good for them, I feel like reducing the story to "Black Cat kissed a girl in 2021 and that's why she has a girlfriend in the video game" is missing a lot of the larger context... so let's discuss some of the history of Felicia Hardy, AKA the chaotic crime bisexual Black Cat.

Felicia Hardy debuted in 1979. Tamara Blake, her "oldest friend" and female lover, first appeared in 1984, only 5 years later, debuting in the Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual "Cat and Mouse."

Dropping by for a night of "harmless frolic," Tamara robs Felicia, aiming to play a game of cat-and-mouse with her friend. While their relationship is not explicitly romantic in this story, Tamara is portrayed as very close to her ex-partner-in-crime and very familiar with her relationship habits. She is surprised by the reveal that Black Cat is trying to settle down with Spider-Man - and to be skeptical about if Felicia will be able to tie herself down to one man... almost as if she knows Felicia has a pattern of behaviour when it comes to monogamy.

I don't know if this story was intentionally gay or not, but it would be used as a foundation for later queer storytelling about Felicia, so it seems worth mentioning it here!

What is pretty explicit, however, is Felicia's relationship with her partner Diana in the 2002 Spider-Girl series. They are just called partners, not lovers, but the framing and discussion of it is obvious enough that, in my opinion, if you know that gay people exist and can accept the possibility of them being gay, then you probably will read this and go "Oh, yeah, they are gay."

This story does not take place in Earth-616 and is primarily focused on Mayday Parker as Spider-Girl and Felicity Hardy as Scarlet Spider, but Felicity does have two moms - and we love that for her!

Jumping ahead a bit, Tamara returned via flashback in Black Cat #10, released in 2020, and this fleshed out their backstory together. It revealed how they trained together under Black Fox as their mentor and clearly shows them using slight-of-hand to hold hands and canoodle without Fox noticing what they're up to.

This is just a super-cute panel to me. That's such a clever use of slight-of-hand; I love it so much...

The next year, in Black Cat Vol 2 #3, there's a vision of Black Cat surrounded by a harem of her lovers, which includes Tamara and Odessa alongside several of her more famous male affairs.

Shortly thereafter, she kissed Odessa on the lips, as discussed earlier. In case the earlier evidence was not enough for you, Felicia Hardy is now formally unquestionably a girl-kisser. We even later get to see her and Drake's one-night-stand via flashback, in case there was any lingering doubts about what happened.

However, it also doesn't end there. It's not like Felicia just kissed a women, Marvel patted themselves on the back, and now she's been back to dating Peter Parker exclusively. There are plenty of comic characters who have had one defining "queer moment" and mum's been the word on their queerness since then... Felicia, meanwhile, is very loudly bisexual.

Immediately, she got a Pride variant cover in 2021 and has been on at least one cover every year since. My favourite is probably this one from 2022, which is both very poly and also features Peter Parker... I'm sure if you'd ask Marvel corporate they'd say he is just there as an ally, but it's still funny to me.

In 2021, she was the character used for the grand return of Jessie Drake (Felicia really has a thing for women with last names that end with -ake, apparently). Jessie was Marvel's first explicitly transgender character, debuting all the way back in 1992. After getting off to a rocky start, Felicia blows up a building with Jessie's help and they go out for dinner.

(This story was not followed up on as the book it was supposed to lead into got cancelled. Drake has not so much as cameoed since. F in the chat for Jessie Drake).

In 2022, there was an 5-issue mini-series all about Tony Stark and Felicia bonding over their mutual problem of supervillain ex-girlfriends trying to murder them. Of the two halves of the pair, Felicia gets the better deal - Tamara not only teams up with Felicia and Tony to fight Tony's ex, but they do so much flirting that Tony forgets that are not currently dating.

And, finally, in 2023, there was another Felicia story in a Pride issue wherein she hooked up with a pseudo-diety and also worked with Gambit to fuck with some transphobes in the process. Good for them!

This is not by any means a definitive list of everything gay Felicia has done - she famously flirts with MJ and Cindy a lot, for instance - but I hope it provides some larger context to Felicia's sexuality in the game.

Moreover, I hope it shows that queer storytelling isn't always about writing a single gay kiss that generates headlines. A lot of Marvel and DC queer storytelling that goes viral isn't the actual multi-issue multi-comic-run queer stuff; it's the one big kiss or something subtextual that happens to feature MCU heroes with better SEO then people like Felicia have... and I think it's the more under-the-radar stuff that's often more valuable.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

02/11/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Cast&Crew Sightings; Rhys; Wee John Wondays; Rosie; Vico; Kaimana; Vico & Samantha Rei; Claudia; Articles; S2 Rewatch; Relax I'm From the Future Watch; Articles; People of Earth Season 1 Watch Party Reminder; Apple Tv Valentine's Video; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika;

== Cast & Crew Sightings ==

= Rhys Darby =

Our favourite Captain attended the 28th annual Art Directors Guild Awards at The Ray Dolby Ballroom on February 10, 2024. He announced 2 of the winners and both those people weren't there to receive it! "This feels personal. What's so bad about meeting me?" NOTHING RHYS EVERY ONE OF US WILL COME MEET YOU DON'T WORRY. Thank you to @rhysdarbinizedarby for all the pics.

==Wee John Wondays==

Wee John Wonday's are back tomorrow! 10.30 PM GMT (5:30 PM ET, 1:30 PT) Looks like there's a Mystery Special Guest! Could it be Nathan? Or Matthew Maher perhaps? Someone cute!

== Rosie and Vico and Kaimana ==

Rosie also attended the Them Fatale last night! She got to meet up with Vico and Kaimana and it looks like everyone had an amazing time! These three are so adorable together.

Vico also met up with Samantha Rei! Check out their Live IG here

= Claudia O'Doherty =

Not OFMD related, but it's nice to see our lovely Claudia (Mary) out and about and being a goofy fun lady as usual.

== Articles ==

The Best New TV Shows to Stream on Max This Week

== Today's Rewatch Party / Relax I'm From the Future Watch ==

= S2 Rewatch Party =

Our friends @adoptourcrew had a Rewarch party with Q! today in honour of Season 2 being on iPlayer. Just some highlights for you folks not on twitter:

= Relax Im from the Future Highlights =

== Watch Party Reminders ==

Feb 12 - Feb 16: People of Earth Season 1

People of Earth is no longer on any streaming platform, but it is available for digital purchase (ex, on Amazon). If access is an issue, DM Me @gentlebeardsbarngrill (@iamadequate1 may be indisposed so I have access if you need it).

Season 1 watch next week from February 12th to February 16th. 

Skipping the week after in case people want to participate in the next Palestine strike. 

Season 2 watch from February 26th to March 1st 

Times will be 10pm GMT / 5pm EST / 4pm CST / 2pm PST. Watch two episodes per day. Episodes are 21-22 minutes each. Use the following Saturday for the tags/watch if interested but not able to make this time.

Hashtags: 

#PiratesOfEarth 

#SaveOFMD 

#AdoptOurCrew

== Apple TV Valentine's Video ==

Some of the crew put together this lovely video for the Apple TV #WooAsACrew event! Check it out!

Vocals: twitter.com/ferventrabbit Video: twitter.com/Giulianaazr & twitter.com/ragsandmuffins

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SaveOFMD Crew (@saveofmd_crew)

== Love Notes ==

Alright lovelies, it's that time again. Covid brain is still pretty strong with me tonight so I hope I don't sounds like a raving lunatic. Over here in the US it's Sunday night. For those of you on the other side of the world it's already Monday. I hope you all got some good rest this weekend, you deserve it. You've been working so very hard at just living lately. It's tough I know, and it can really wear on you over time. You're doing great though, you really are. It's so hard to see how far we've come when we are living in this constant state of survival, but you know what's really cool? There's a past version of you right now that is so incredibly proud of you. If that you could see yourself right now, they'd be in awe at how far you've come, and how much you've grown. Where you are today will be that same person in a few months or a year, marveling at your progress. You are doing so very well, even on tough days. Remember that. The crew and I are so very proud of you lovelies, and we know past you is too (and hopefully present you, but I understand if that's harder to do). Get some rest and keep at it, you got this. <3

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

So for tonight, I have a serious question. How the HELL did I miss that Taika did a TED talk, in a goddamn suit vest? Holy Frijoles, someone please make him wear these more often, it's uncomfortable how good he looks in that. Ted Talk Src.

So, uh ya, tonight's vest themed, IDK it just needed to happen, I suppose.

[electronickingdomfox]

TOS comics ranking

At this point, I've read all the TOS comics out there (or almost), so this is my personal veredict, from best series to worst:

DC comics

The best by a long shot imo. Also the longest running series. Set mostly after The Search for Spock (vol. 1) and The Final Frontier (vol. 2). The following are my favorites.

From Volume 1:

-The Mirror Universe saga (issues 9-16) by Mike W. Barr: It becomes a bit of "star wars, phaser pew pew" in the second half, but still pretty entertaining.

-The first Annual, also by Barr.

-Double Blind and The Last Word (issues 24-25 and 28) by Diane Duane: The first one is hilarious, while the second is pretty moving and spones-coded.

-The Paradise Lost saga (issues 43-45) by Michael Carlin: A payback for The Apple episode.

-The Dante's Inferno/Death of James Kirk saga (issues 48-55) by Peter David.

From Volume 2:

-The Trial of James T. Kirk saga (issues 1-12) by Peter David: The humor is overdone at times, but this author brings a unique freshness and originality to the series. The trial itself is absolutely hilarious, specially when the gangsters from A Piece of the Action show up as surprise witnesses.

-Once a Hero (issue 19) by Peter David: Kirk has to conduct a memorial for the redshirt that just died protecting him, and he finds out he doesn't know anything about the man. Brutal, honest, and has one of Jim's best speeches ever.

-The Class Reunion saga (issues 25-28), The Tabukan Syndrome (issues 35-40), A Little Adventure (issues 42-43) and the Time Crime saga (issues 53-57), all by Howard Weinstein.

-The Alone (issues 62-63) by Kevin Ryan.

2. Wildstorm

Only two TOS comics from this publisher (actually a branch of DC if I'm not mistaken): All of Me and Enter the Wolves. Both are pretty good.

3. IDW

I haven't read all of them, since some series focus on characters I don't care much about, like Gary Seven or Number One. From those I've read, the ones I liked the most were New Visions (made with photo montages from the series), Hell's Mirror and Mirror Images (both set, of course, in the mirror universe), Echoes (set in the TMP era) and The Primate Directive (a crossover with Planet of the Apes).

4. The Tokyopop mangas

There are three volumes. Some stories are fine, others are meh! Perhaps the second volume was the best.

5. The UK comics

Do they have a lot to do with TOS? No. The authors were not really familiar with the series. But they're bizarre, fun and have pretty art.

6. The newspaper comics

Some of the first story arcs were quite good, though it lost quality over time, specially in the art department. Set in the TMP era.

7. Marvel second series

Consisting of the Unlimited and Untold Voyages series, as well as a mirror universe one-shot and a crossover with X-Men. Rather generic. Haven't read the Early Voyages series, focused on Pike.

8. Marvel first series

These are quite bad. Set in TMP era.

9. Gold Key comics

Some stories are imaginative, but they could be about any characters instead of Star Trek and it'd be the same. This is a problem with the UK comics as well, but somehow I enjoyed the others much more.

[thequiver]

Who is.....Paige Guthrie | Husk? - A Reading Guide

Paige Guthrie is an X-Men affiliated mutant from Marvel comics first introduced in 1984. Paige is the younger sister of Sam Guthrie (Cannonball of the New Mutants), and the oldest daughter of the Guthrie family. Paige is known for her passion and drive, as well as for her intellect. Husk has the mutant ability to shed her outer layer of skin and reveal a new state or shape underneath. Her power can cause random changes if she activates it without thinking, but by concentrating on specific chemical or elemental formulas, she can control the nature of her transformation. These shifts in state can leave her vulnerable to mood swings and blackouts, requiring her to be careful when she uses her powers. Despite her character being best known among fans for her relationships with Jono Starsmore (Chamber) and Warren Worthington III (Angel/Archangel) - Paige is a smart, strong, and kind character worthy of focus in her own right. (She's also amazing Appalachian representation in comics <3).

Below you can find a mostly complete record of Paige's appearances through February 2023 complete with totally legal links ;)! I've included context for crossover events and major storylines in the hopes of making this reading list as accessible to new readers as possible!

Beginnings

First Appearances: within these two issues, we get our first introduction to Paige, and the family dynamic she exists in. (While Paige is only present in passing in New Mutants #42, that issue offers an in depth look into the Guthrie family dynamics of the oldest siblings, even if Paige is noticeably absent from this conversation.)

Rom Annual (1979) #3 New Mutants (1983) #42

Child's Play (and its aftermath): In this crossover event, the Upstarts continue their series of games to prove their power and worth to one another. This time, they devise "the Younghunt", a mission to capture all of the surviving members of the New Mutants (some of whom are now members of X-Force) and the Hellions. Paige had secretly followed X-Force, and ends up saving the day with her intellect. The event ends with New Warriors #46, and Paige's appearances afterwards tackle the aftermath of the event, with Cable trying to talk to Paige about her future and her training.

X-Force (1991) #32-33 New Warriors (1990) #46 X-Force (1991) #34-36

Phalanx Covenant: Mutant hating humans that have gained access to Warlock's techno-organic Phalanx virus use it to turn themselves into techno-organic beings. With these powers, the Phalanx are able to change their shape and assimilate organic matter. As a hive-mind they are programmed to exterminate all mutant life. This event sets up Generation X (which is Paige heavy!). The first three issues listed below are the only ones technically part of the Phalanx Covenant event, but some more issues have been included to add a bit more context before the Generation X section :)

X-Men (1991) #36 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #317 X-Men (1991) #37 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #318 X-Force (1991) #42

Training with the X-Men

Generation X: A new team of mutants under the leadership of Sean Cassidy (Banshee) and Emma Frost (The White Queen) is formed at the Massachusetts campus of the Xavier Institute. The goal of this team is to earn an education and learn how to become the next generation of X-Men- their focus is not to fight villains. Paige is featured heavily in this book and is one of the main team members!

Generation X (1994) #1-9, Annual #1, 10-21, Annual #2, 22-23, Annual #3, 24-40, 1/2, 41 X-Men Unlimited (1993) #20 Generation X (1994) 42-49, Annual #4 Generation X Holiday Special Generation X (1994) #50 X-Man(1995) #50 Generation X (1994) #51 X-Force (1991) #87 Generation X (1994) #52-56 Wolverine (1988) #141 Generation X (1994) #57-58, Annual #5, 59-75

Post-Graduation

Uncanny X-Men: Generation X ends with #75 and from there Paige's next appearances are found within the pages of Uncanny X-Men. In this arc, we see Paige recruited by Sean Cassidy (Banshee) onto the paramilitary team, X-Corps (this plotline is certainly a choice made by Marvel comics). While X-Corps was not a long lived team, and the arc mostly happens in Uncanny X-Men #403-406, the rest of the Uncanny X-Men and related/chronological plotlines are listed here as well - this leads directly into M-Day.

Uncanny X-Men (1981) #403-426 Exiles (2001) #28-30 Uncanny X-Men (1981) #427-441 Weapon X (2002) #15, 18

House of M/M-Day: After altering reality so mutants were the dominant race, the Scarlet Witch then changed reality again, this time attempting to rid the world of the mutant gene, by casting another spell, "No More Mutants", de-powering the vast majority of mutants.

Excalibur (2004) #11-13 X-Men (1991) #165 Decimation: House of M - The Day After

Sentinels: The Sentinels were artificially intelligent robots designed to hunt mutantkind. Although a prototype was developed in San Francisco in 1906, the modern Sentinels were first created by Dr. Bolivar Trask. His intention was to use them to save humanity from what he saw as an impending threat to the species' existence due to the increasing numbers of emerging mutants. Sentinels have long been one of the largest threats to mutantkind in X-comics and at this point in comics are one of the greatest threats to them from the government. Especially when so many mutants have been depowered as the result of M-Day/Decimation. This section also touches on Divided We Stand, a synopsis is linked here for ease of understanding.

Uncanny X-Men (1981) #469-472 New X-Men (2004) #24-32 X-Men: Divided We Stand (2008) #1

Secret Invasion: TW: THIS EVENT IS TIED PRETTY HEAVILY INTO ANTISEMITIC TROPES PROCEED WITH CAUTION The premise of Secret Invasion is that the Skrull empire, in a bid to take control of earth, replaces several super-powered humans/humanoids on earth with Skrulls.

Secret Invasion X-Men (2008) #2-4

Utopia: Within the Utopia event (connected to the Utopia base that used to be Asteroid M), Scott Summers (Cyclops) instructs Logan Howlett (Wolverine) to create a new secret X-Force team to act as something like a black-ops squad. Meanwhile, Norman Osborne (of Spider-Man, Green Goblin fame) had promised Emma Frost (White Queen) that he would spare the mutant society in San Francisco if she kept them in line. This event is heralded by secret-keeping with a backdrop of anti-mutant legislation being passed in many US states due to Simon Trask's (Bolivar Trask's, creator of the Sentinels, brother) push for a lack of reproductive freedom for mutants.

Dark Avengers (2009) #8 Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus (2009)

Necrosha and Second Coming: Necrosha is a crossover event that deals with mutants being resurrected for the dark purposes of Selene Gallio (an old enemy of the X-Men, first appearing in New Mutants (1983) #9) who intends to use these resurrected mutants in her quest to become a goddess. Second Coming is a storyline that builds on the Utopia and Necrosha storylines. The story centers on the return of Cable and Hope Summers, and on attempts to end the X-Men through the destruction of the Mutant Messiah, the aptly named Hope Summers.

X-Force (2008) #22 X-Men: Legacy (2008) #231-233 New Mutants (2009) #14 X-Men: Legacy (2008) #237

Curse of the Mutants: In what can only be described as the "oh shit we've run out of ideas" last resort of any creative company putting out too many crossover events in a short period of time..... the X-Office put out Curse of the Mutants. The arc centers on a human bomb exploding in San Francisco's Union Square, covering dozens in vampire-converting blood. It then becomes the mission of the X-Men to track down Dracula's son Xarus, now "Lord of the Vampires", even if that means enlisting vampire-hunter Blade. Yeah.... I don't know either.

X-Men: Curse of the Mutants - X-Men vs. Vampires X-Men (2010) #5

Age of X: The mutants are almost extinct, tortured by a strike force led by Colonel Graydon Creed. The first signs of the Age of X appeared in X-Men: Legacy #244; the events were removed from the Earth-616 mainstream continuity, with no memories of the alternate lives. If you've taken a look at my David Haller Reading List you'll see this event explained as "David’s desire to be loved forces him to grapple with reality," and as a story that "places David in a role where he has to choose between a false universe where he is considered a beloved hero and reality where he must choose to be a hero despite the fear others feel about him." And while that is the base cause of the event, Age of X also has some absolutely INCREDIBLE moments for Paige (and her relationship with her brother Sam) to shine!

X-Men: Legacy (2008) #246 New Mutants (2009) #23 X-Men: Legacy (2008) #247 New Mutants (2009) #24-27

Regenesis: In the aftermath of Schism, the X-Men re-organize and face new challenges. Imo you don't necessarily have to read Schism to understand Regenesis, but it might be helpful if you want to grasp all the nuance.

X-Men: Regenesis (2011) #1 Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) #1-3 X-Men: Legacy (2008) #260.1 Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) #4-7 X-Men: Legacy (2008) #261-265 Astonishing X-Men (2004) #51

Avengers vs. X-Men: When the Phoenix Force approaches Earth, Hope Summers is assumed its next host. The X-Men and the Avengers are divided on how to handle the situation. The X-Men believe that the Phoenix Force will herald the rebirth of the Mutant Species, while the Avengers believe that it will bring an end to all life on Earth. This leads to a war between Marvel's two powerful superhero factions.

Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) #9 Avengers vs. X-Men (2012) #3 Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) #10 X-Men: Legacy (2008) #266-267 Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) #13-19, 30-41

What comes next?

While many of Paige's appearances take place in or connected to crossover events, there is a blissful period in the 2010s where this is not the case and the stakes aren't quite as high. The events pick up again in 2019 with Age of X-Man, but the following issues take place between Wolverine and the X-Men and the Age of X-Man event.

Nightcrawler (2014) #3-4 Uncanny X-Men (2013) #600 Generation X (2017) #8-9 Spider-Man/Deadpool (2016) #24-25 Generation X (2017) #85-87 Spider-Man/Deadpool (2016) #27-40

Age of X-Man: The name and premise derive from the 1995 storyline Age of Apocalypse, but instead focus on a utopian alternate universe led by the X-Man, Nate Grey. This is.... not the comic to read for Nate, but Paige is here!

Uncanny X-Men (2019) #1-10 (Paige is technically only in #9-10, but all ten issues are highly recommended as they're the lead-up to Age of X-Man!) Age of X-Man: Next Gen (2019) #1-2

House of X and Krakoa: House of X is the event that sets up the founding of the island nation of Krakoa as a safe haven for mutants. These comics also detail the Crucible, a way for de-powered mutants to die in combat and be resurrected with their powers once more.

House of X (2019) #3-5 X-Men (2019) #7 Fallen Angels (2019) #5-6 X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic (2021) #1, 3-4, 22, 24-25, 41 Legion of X (2022) #8

If you have any questions about Paige, or have a specific request on which of her siblings (Sam, Jay, Mel) I should do a reading list for next just let me know! My asks and DMs are open!

[karmirage]

some fun facts for the @tournament-of-x voters

The oldest contestants currently in the match (and by oldest, I mean “the date of their first appearance”, not their actual ages) are Magneto, Jean Grey, Bobby Drake/Iceman, and Scott Summers/Cyclops. All four of them first appear in X-Men #1 in 1963.

The youngest contestant currently in the match (again, in terms of the dates of their first appearance, not actual age) is Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool, who first debuted in Howard the Duck #1 in 2015.

Of the contestants, only Laura Kinney/Wolverine appeared first on screen -- her first ever appearance was in Season 3, Episode 10 of X-Men: Evolution in August of 2003. This would be later followed by her first comic appearance in NYX #3, in December of 2003.

As far as classic teams go: the 33 characters remaining include three of the original five X-Men (Jean, Bobby, Scott), four of the classic nine New Mutants (Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma, Dani Moonstar/Mirage, Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, and Illyana Rasputin/Magik -- Dani, Xuân, and Roberto are also founding members), and two people who have two first appearances (both Illyana and Nathan Summers/Cable appear in canon continuity as babies/toddlers prior to appearing later under their aliases -- Illyana appears in Giant-Sized X-Men #1 in 1975 and Nathan appears in Uncanny X-Men #201 in 1985). Two contestants are also part of the iconic Giant-Sized X-Men team created in 1975 -- Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler and Ororo Munroe/Storm. Two members of the original Generation X remain (Monet St. Croix/M/Penance and Jubilation Lee/Jubilee), as well as two from the Academy X era (David Alleyne and Megan Gwynn, from the New Mutants second generation team and the Paragons, respectively), three if you choose to count Laura Kinney/Wolverine, who joined the remaining students of New X-Men vol. 2 just after M-Day.

All the contestants save nine made their first appearances in X-books (X-Men, Giant-Sized X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, New Mutants, X-Factor, X-Force, Generation X, X-Men: Evolution and New X-Men). The ones who do not first appear in X-books are Mystique (Ms. Marvel #18 in 1978, though she technically had a cameo appearance two issues prior), Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma (Marvel Team-Up #100 in 1980), Anna Marie Lebeau/Rogue (Avengers Annual #10, 1981), Dani Moonstar/Mirage and Roberto da Costa/Sunspot (both in Marvel Graphic Novel #4 in 1983), Billy Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan (Young Avengers #1, 2005), Tommy Shepherd/Speed (Young Avengers #10, 2006), Eden Fesi/Manifold (Secret Warriors #4, 2009), and Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool (Howard the Duck #1, 2015).

Demographically speaking, four characters in the tournament are canonically Jewish -- Magneto, Kate Pryde, Billy Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan, and Bobby Drake/Iceman (thanks for the reminder, @/ant-ifascottlang!) Though it hasn’t been confirmed, one might assume that Tommy Shepherd/Speed and Lorna Dane/Polaris are also Jewish, being related to them.

The 70s and the 80s are proving themselves to be the most popular -- 8 candidates that were created in the 70s are still in the tournament (Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Ororo Munroe/Storm, Illyana Rasputin/Magik, Mystique, Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier/Aurora, Kitty/Kate Pryde, and Emma Frost/White Queen), and 8 characters created in the 80s are still in the tournament as well (Irene Adler/Destiny, Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma, Anna Marie Lebeau/Rogue, Dani Moonstar/Mirage, Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, Nathan Summers/Cable, Julio Richter/Rictor, and Jubilation Lee/Jubilee).

Of the other decades: seven characters were introduced in the 2000s (Eloise Phimister/Negasonic Teenage Warhead, David Alleyne/Prodigy, Laura Kinney/Wolverine, Megan Gwynn/Pixie, Billy Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan, Tommy Shepherd/Speed, and Eden Fesi/Manifold), five were introduced in the 60s (Magneto, Jean Grey, Bobby Drake/Iceman, Scott Summers/Cyclops, and Lorna Dane/Polaris), and four were introduced in the 90s (Remy Lebeau/Gambit, Lucas Bishop, Neena Thurman/Domino, and Monet St. Croix/M/Penance). Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool is the only character remaining in the tournament to be introduced after 2010.

One character is canonically Muslim -- Monet St. Croix/M/Penance.

Eleven characters are canonically LGBTQ+: Bobby Drake/Iceman, Mystique, Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar, Kitty/Kate Pryde, Irene Adler/Destiny, Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma, Julio Richter/Rictor, David Alleyne/Prodigy, Billy Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan, Tommy Shepherd/Speed, and Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool.

Laura Kinney/Wolverine, Remy Lebeau/Gambit (thanks for the reminder, @/souldagger!) and Megan Gwynn/Pixie have been confirmed by writers to be queer, but there has been no on-panel confirmation for any of them beyond Pixie’s appearance/alternate dimension self in Secret Wars.

Without counting the upcoming Uncanny Avengers, at least three characters have been recurring Avengers -- Anna Marie Lebeau/Rogue, Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, and Eden Fesi/Manifold. Rogue and Sunspot also notably led teams of Avengers. Several other candidates have been Young Avengers -- David Alleyne/Prodigy, Billy Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan (who was a founding member), and Tommy Shepherd/Speed.

Ten characters are mutants of color -- Ororo Munroe/Storm is Kenyan-American and grew up in Cairo, Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma is Vietnamese, Dani Moonstar/Mirage is Indigenous American, specifically Cheyenne, Roberto da Costa is Afrolatino and from Brazil, Julio Richter/Rictor is Mexican, Jubilation Lee/Jubilee is Chinese-American, Lucas Bishop is Aboriginal Australian/Black American (according to Chris Claremont, who confirmed that Bishop is indeed descended from Aboriginal Australian mutant Gateway), Monet St. Croix/M/Penance is Monacan-Algerian, David Alleyne/Prodigy is a Black American, and Eden Fesi/Manifold is Aboriginal Australian.

While Laura Kinney/Wolverine first appeared as a visibly brown girl in X-Men: Evolution, her design has since been lightened and she does not have a confirmed ethnicity.

Only eight of the remaining contestants have never appeared in live-action adaptations -- Irene Adler/Destiny, Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma (though her name is shown on a computer screen in X2: X-Men United), Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier/Aurora, David Alleyne/Prodigy, Megan Gwynn/Pixie, Eden Fesi/Manifold, and Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool. Of these, only Karma, Penance, Prodigy, Manifold, and Gwenpool have no on-screen appearances at all -- the others appear in the various animated series (Destiny has a recurring appearance in X-Men: Evolution, Pixie pops up in Wolverine and the X-Men, and the Beaubier twins appear in the X-Men cartoon of the 90s). While Penance is listed on Wikipedia as being in Wolverine and the X-Men, it does not cite an episode, though her twin younger sisters appear in Season 1 Episode 10 “Greetings from Genosha.” **this post has been corrected -- Monet St. Croix/M/Penance appears in the direct to TV Generation X movie (thanks for the reminder, @/cranechel!)

[sineala]

Hi!! I used to be big into superhusbands till about the whole international iron man by bendis (i abandoned there..Tony was too different)... I was wondering, do you recommend current marvel comics? Are they still ridiculously interrupted by crossing over and events?

I am actually really, really enjoying current Marvel comics! I also think now is a pretty good time to hop on board.

If you want specific recs, I have lots of them.

Current comics:

We just got a brand-new Avengers run -- issue #2 just came out this week -- and although Steve isn't on the team (Sam is), Tony is there, and Carol is the team chair. Many of us, myself included, have been really looking forward to this run, because it's being written by Jed MacKay, who is a relatively new writer to Marvel who in my opinion writes comics with very well-characterized characters and a lot of love for the source material. (He is also currently writing what has now become my favorite Doctor Strange run.)

MacKay especially writes a very good Tony; he did an Iron Man annual and an Avengers annual back in 2021 (part of the "Infinite Destinies" series of annuals. The Iron Man one had some very good Tony characterization, and the Avengers annual instantly became everyone's favorite because about half of it is Steve and Tony hanging out at home together, and the other half is Steve and Tony punching robots.

So there's not really a whole lot to say about the new Avengers run yet, but I am excited for it.

(Jason Aaron recently ended a five-year Avengers run. I would recommend skipping it, except for the issue where Steve, Tony, and Thor all go skinny-dipping together in a hot tub. It is the highlight of the run.)

We are seven issues into a new Iron Man run, being written by Gerry Duggan (whom you may remember from 1872), and I swear this is the best Iron Man ongoing comic that has come out since I have been in this fandom. Every issue is actually good, and he's absolutely nailing the Tony characterization, and he's clearly done all the reading. And also Tony is getting whumped hard. I really love it. Every time we get a new issue I am excited to read it because I know it's gonna be good.

(You have missed a couple of Iron Man runs. The Dan Slott run was not all that great, but it had some very sweet canon Tony/Jan and also very pretty art by Valerio Schiti. Then we got Christopher Cantwell's Iron Man run, which was the worst Iron Man run I have ever read in my entire life and featured Tony being a privileged and out-of-touch billionaire asshole who then got addicted to morphine, acquired the Power Cosmic, murdered most of his friends (and, I mean, brought them back, at least), and then decided that he should maybe go to rehab so that he could learn humility which apparently he did not have? My least favorite moment was the bit where Patsy Walker tells him he has no idea what it's like to be suicidal and Tony -- a person who has had at least two on-panel suicide attempts -- agrees that, no, he has no idea what that's like. Anyway. You should skip that.)

I have been kind of meh about the current Cap run (other than the fact that it appears to have given us canon Steve/Emma femdom) because a whole lot of it is basically "CATWS but what if 616" and also they killed off one of my minor-character faves and I am very bitter. There is one more issue left in this run, so you might as well just wait a couple more months and start with the next run, which will be written by J. Michael Straczynski. I know a lot of people have strong feelings about JMS' comics work but I have been a Babylon 5 fan since it started airing and I am excited that JMS, the guy who gave us the "no, you move" speech, is going to be writing Steve. (JMS also wrote Bullet Points, if you liked the Steve in that one.)

(Cap runs you have missed include Ta-Nehisi Coates -- it was fine but for the most part Steve was wildly OOC -- as well as a very short run by Mark Waid whose first arc you should check out because it was absolutely amazing and had great Samnee art. I think you've also missed Nick Spencer's run, which. Uh. I don't even know where to begin with discussing that.)

Recent events:

Comics are still going to be comics, so, yeah, there are always events. Some of them are pretty good, though. If you haven't been here for a few years, you've probably missed AXE Judgment Day, Heroes Reborn, Empyre, and War of the Realms. Possibly also Secret Empire, Civil War II, and Standoff.

Of all of these, I would have to say that AXE Judgment Day (written by Kieron Gillen) was my favorite; it featured the Avengers, X-Men, and Eternals all coming together to save the world from a Celestial that was trying to judge all of humanity and then destroy the planet. You know, the usual. I thought it was pretty well done and had a lot for Steve and Tony to do. They got to be on the same side, for once. Steve got a whole bunch of speeches and everyone got a massive amount of angst; there was actually an entire issue devoted to the Celestial's judgment of Tony. So yeah, it didn't have a whole lot of Steve & Tony together but they both definitely had starring roles for the event.

Heroes Reborn (yes, it would kill Marvel to think up a new name) was an event where Phil Coulson sold his soul to the devil to make the Squadron Supreme have always been the best superhero team on Earth. Coulson has been wedged into the comics from the MCU but Jason Aaron clearly committed hard to making him the most evil person possible.

Empyre -- by Slott and Ewing, art by Schiti -- was probably my second-favorite recent event. It once again featured heroes fighting villains, as is right and proper. Steve and Tony weren't the stars of the event or anything but they did, you know, get to help out a bit. It was a bunch of Kree-Skrull stuff and everyone fought some tree people whose names I am blanking on and it also ended in Billy and Teddy's Big Gay Jewish Space Wedding, so obviously you have to appreciate that.

I remember very little about War of the Realms. It was one of those Asgard things.

You probably missed Secret Empire? And possibly the lead-ins to it, Avengers Standoff and Civil War II. This was infamously the event where Steve was replaced by an evil Hydra version of himself who decided to make America into his own personal fascist state. (Standoff was the event where he was secretly replaced although we did not know this at the time; he spent all of Civil War II -- a Carol vs. Tony event, this time with Tony ending up in a coma at the end -- gaslighting all the heroes pretty hard.) Public reaction to Secret Empire was, as you can imagine, very very bad (they decided to promote this as "this is the real Steve and he has been evil forever" rather than, like, "hey we're doing a villain AU for the next six months") and they ended up concluding the whole thing much faster than they had originally planned to, presumably because the sales tanked hard. They basically did a very, very bad job with this one.

Secret Empire has mostly provided a lot of source material for fandom to pick apart and improve upon -- especially the people who like villain AUs -- and its major highlight is a lead-in one-shot, Civil War II: The Oath, which is a villain remix of The Confession in which Hydra Steve addresses Tony's comatose body and, among other things, tells him that the real Steve loved him, and that he always loved him, even when they fought. So, you know. We all enjoyed that page.

Other fun things you might have missed:

There have been a bunch of fun relatively-recent miniseries!

The thing you will probably be most interested is Captain America/Iron Man, which is a five-issue miniseries by Derek Landy of Steve and Tony teaming up to take down a villain (who is, of course, one of Tony's exes). It has some lovely character moments. The collected edition of this is called "The Armor and the Shield."

Jed MacKay -- yes, the guy writing Avengers -- also previously wrote a run of Black Cat that had a lot of Tony cameos, and then decided to write an Iron Cat miniseries in which Felicia & Tony team up to defeat both of their ex-girlfriends who have decided to try to murder them because apparently, yes, they both have terrible luck with relationships. (In Tony's case, this is Sunset Bain.)

We're also currently getting an Ayodele & Akande miniseries, I Am Iron Man, which is set at various points in Tony's history and I have to admit that I have literally no idea what's going on here but at least it's clear that they really like Tony, and it's sweet.

In what I can only assume was an attempt at some kind of MCU synergy, we just finished getting a second Secret Invasion miniseries (written by Ryan North of Squirrel Girl fame) which was an extremely clever series in which basically nothing was as it seemed, and also Tony was one of the major characters. I really, really liked this one.

If you like weird AUs, we also recently got a (Tom Taylor, I think?) miniseries called Dark Ages, in an alternate future where electricity has stopped working. It did have Steve and Tony.

It is not specifically Steve & Tony related but we just got a Wasp miniseries by Al Ewing, which is Jan's first solo book ever. Yes, ever.

And it has nothing to do with Steve and Tony at all, but I feel like people who don't ordinarily read Guardians of the Galaxy might really enjoy Ewing's run on that, because it is incredibly queer. Phyla-Vell and Moondragon are main characters, Billy and Teddy come guest-star for a lot of it, Avril Kincaid (the new Quasar, who is also gay) is there for a bit, and also the overarching relationship plot is "Peter, Gamora, and Rich decide they all love each other and are all going to be in a relationship." This is extremely heavily implied. There are multiple love confessions and the run ends with them embracing. So yeah, Pete/Rich is canon now. It's great.

That's all I can think of for right now.

[drakonfire12]

How to help the Ukrainian Book Industry

As per usual, I forget to post on Tumblr now a days. Let's talk Faktor Druk.

What happened?

Russia launched 15 missiles at Kharkiv. Faktor Druk, a printing house was hit twice (in total 3 strikes in the general area). Last I heard, 7 are dead. 22 are wounded. (During the strike, 50 employees were in the building.)

Why it matters? Most Ukrainian publishers had books printed there. Every 3rd Ukrainian book was printed there [Source]. You may think "it's only 50 000 fiction books", but no, it includes textbooks. As in, kids might not get any textbooks, because who else will print them when most books are printed in Kharkiv?

"The printing house Faktor-Druk is part of the Faktor company group, which also includes the renowned Ukrainian publishing house and bookstore Vivat. Faktor-Druk has the capacity to produce approximately 50 million hardcover and paperback books, 100 million magazines, and 300 million newspapers annually. The facility employs 400 people and encompasses 15,822 square meters of production space. According to Forbes Ukraine, Faktor-Druk is one of only two factories in Ukraine that can print products for Disney and Marvel, having successfully passed a rigorous multi-level audit." [Source]

Now how to help? Countries are trying to help with rebuilding, but here are some things you can do.

Vivat posted about a fundraiser for Faktor Druk. Originally posted here by CEO Yuliya Orlova. Reposted to Vivat website here.

Based on my own experience, I believe it is crucial to channel our grief and anger into action. How can you do that?

Ways to support: Donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they are our heroes! Keep buying Ukrainian books! Factor-Druk is one of the largest printing houses in Ukraine, where not only Vivat books are printed, but also many books from other publishers, as well as newspapers, magazines, calendars, school notebooks for your children and grandchildren.⠀ How to help: The Factor company has initiated a fundraiser. All donations will be used to support those affected and to restore the printing industry. Details can be found at the following link: https://vivat.com.ua/blog/udar-po-drukarni-faktor-druk-yak-dopomohty/ [Source]

Vally_v on Instagram is doing a fundraiser raffle below for the chance to win this edition of Ivan Franko's “Manipuliantka”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Val Voshchevska 🇺🇦 (@vally_v)

You can support the publishers by buying Ukrainian books and ebooks (most print their books through Faktor).

On the whole, this destruction is part of the larger war where Russians have been destroying Ukraine.

Some more background

The first year of the full-scale invasion led to a 50% decrease in demand [Source]. Shelling in Kharkiv has led to a backlog due to limited electricity and a shortage of qualified personnel [Source].

In terms of operations, within 2022:

From the start of the full scale invasion to April 25th of 2024, the Russians have damaged 1062 cultural heritage sites [Source]:

Specifically, architectural and urban planning sites comprise 316 objects, architecture – 307, historical– 226, architecture and urban planning, historical – 61, archaeology – 56, architecture, historical – 39, monumental art – 21, urban planning and monumental-decorative art – 19, architecture, monumental art – 7, urban planning – 5, science and technology, architecture – 2, architecture and monumental art – 1, architecture, garden and park art – 1; architecture and garden and park art – 1.

From that same period of time, Russians damaged 1987 cultural institutions (324 destroyed) [Source].

"In total, the following have been affected: – Creative hubs: 958 – Libraries: 708 – Art education institutions: 153 – Museums and galleries: 114 – Theaters, cinemas, and philharmonic halls: 36 – Parks, zoos, reserves: 15 – Circuses: 3"

There is also this interactive map of the book ecosystem in Ukraine:

Links:

Oleksiy Hrushevsky. Ukrain's printing companies suffer 40% capacity cuts after Russian attack on Kharkiv printing house. Online.ua.

Russian army attacks printing house in Kharkiv causing injury and death – UPDATED. Chytomo.

Porter Anderson. Russian Attack Hits Ukraine’s Factor-Druk Printing House. Publishing Perspective.

Porter Anderson. Europe’s Publishers: Anger, Solidarity After Kharkiv Attack. Publishing Perspective.

Олеся Дерзська. Як ракетний удар по «Фактор-Друк» вдарить по книгоіндустрії? Speka.

Factor Group of companies on Facebook.

Yuliya Orlova on Facebook. [Vivat CEO]

Vivat on Facebook. Книгарка Vivat on Telegram.

Sergey Polituchiy on Facebook.

Over 50,000 books destroyed and three publishers affected in Russian strike on Kharkiv printing house. Ukrains'ka Pravda.

Тетяна Леонова. «Українці — не варвари, ми не палимо книжки»: Олена Рибка, шеф-редакторка видавництва Vivat автор. Nakypilo.

Анна М’ясникова. Харківська друкарня після обстрілу. Фоторепортаж. Nakypilo.

On the Ukrainian publishing industry:

[Dec. 2022] The State of the Ukrainian Book Publishing Sector During Wartime. Ukraine World.

[23.12.2022] Anastasia Zagorui & Oksana Khmeliovska. 9 months of invasion: how Ukrainian publishers work in times of war. Chytomo.

[12.08.2022] Anastasia Zagorui. How Ukrainian publishers work during the war. Chytomo.

[12.02.2024] Iryna Baturevych. The Ukrainian Publishing Market 2023: “Competition has reached unprecedented levels”. Chytomo. (old poll, but gives some perspective).

[06.05.2024] Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Due to russian aggression in Ukraine, 1062 cultural heritage sites have been affected.

[02.05.2024] Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. 1987 cultural infrastructure objects have been damaged or destroyed due to russian aggression.

[April 2023] A Brief Overview of the Ukrainian Publishing Sector : Supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery (SUPRR).

[Oct 2023] Ukraine’s book business during war: Ukrainians want to read their own, but Russia may enter the market again. Rubryka.

[April 2024] Against all odds: How Ukrainian book publishing navigates challenges of war. Rubryka.

[04.04.2024] The constant shelling of Kharkiv leads to major backlog for Ukrainian books-in-print. Chytomo.

Interactive map:

Interactive map of the Ukrainian book ecosystem. Ukrainian Book Institute.

Thanks for reading, this turned out to be a super long post.

[hexhomos]

HI! hope your day is treating you well, i’ve been interested in doomreed for some time but cape comics are sort of daunting to me just because there’s so much content and i really don’t know where to begin. what do you suggest? thank you!

STRAIGHT OUT THE GATE ill say, read [ "My Dinner With Doom" ] (this is a rly high-qual upload, open it up on desktop!)

It's a key issue oneshot with a lil bit of backstory retelling, featuring a private dinner that happens in the 00's - a good entrance point if you're curious about doomreed in summarization + generally speaking a Real Good Comic overall.

LONG POST INCOMING THIS IS A LONG POST / click readmore

the fantastic four are one of marvel's darling old founding teams so there is pretty much... endless archival, ongoing, multimedia and games content popping up all the time.

They are also kinda one of the rare teams where the growth of the characters is consistent? The kids are allowed to grow older and events from every major run are carried/referenced by the next author so if you want to do chronological there's a lot of incentive and fun stuff.

If you wanna dip your toes into the F4 as a concept, check out:

*the #1 issue of Fantastic Four By Waid & Wieringo (1997) *Mythos: Fantastic Four (2007) [ *The FF (1994) movie that is up for free on youtube!! ] *Fantastic Four (2022) by Ryan North as the current ongoing!

(Some) Singles centered on Doom/Doomreed:

*Fantastic Four (1961) Annual 2 is Doom's original backstory issue *Marvel Two-in-One (2017) by Zdarsky issue #11 & Annual #1 are both crazy good but they spoil big events/conclusions from previous runs if u care abt that!!! (My current fav fic came from these issues.) *Doomgate (novel) by Jeffrey Lang is a good option if you want something that is mostly prose, instead of a comic or movie

NOW BEFORE YOU JUMP AHEAD WITH ANYTHING I *am* following [ this reading guide ] which breaks down specific issues relevant to their relationship as a line through all the different authors over the years.

[ There's also this 2021 guide w/ a few other story/AU highlights! The author said u can send the blog questions and theyll answer too ]

The 'Modern era' (late 90s/00s/10s/Now) Starts with Waid and McDuffie's stuff. The latter wrote My Dinner with Doom!

If you're scared by all the names, don't be - when searching for the issues, just pay attention to the year, # number & author/artist creds.

What I'm reading/liveblogging rn is Hickman's Secret wars era, generally regarded as yaoi ketamine; It's a good epic narrative entrance point if you want to jump into it, and it eventually led into this huge marvel event that changed the multiverse and even brought miles morales into the main timeline, so its BIG and it happened in multiple books - the best way to go about it is;

Pre-hickman:

Fantastic Four (1961) #551 #552 #553 ➡️ (these introduce main ideas we will touch again in secret wars)

Fantastic Four (1961) #558 to #562 ➡️

Doom appears in these too, first/last issues more heavily. Stuff here will be ref'd during the next era.

If you're having fun and want to keep reading you can! Just know that the next storyarc has gathered a largely mixed response bc..... its Millar going hammywammy....... not that necessary.......

anyway when you see hickmans name in the cover STOP and

Jump to actual Hickman secret wars era:

Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman: The complete collection➡️

(optional, side plot) If you like Val + Doom, read specifically; *Fantastic Four (2014) #3 & #5 + Fantastic Four Annual (2014) #1 *Agent of Asgard #6 & #7 *Avengers World (2014) #15 & #16

New Avengers (2013) ➡️ check issues on picture, or, if you're a completionist, look for 'Avengers by Jonathan Hickman; complete collection' and skim for the doom/reed relevant bits. There's a lot of characters here but this is a buildup to the big secret wars. Secret Wars (2015) ➡️ (All issues!) Infamous Iron Man (2016) ➡️bendis' doom writing is not very good but hang in there because right after him: Marvel 2-In-One (2017) ➡️ (All issues!) is a banger. Yaoi btw.

You can basically read all the future/past ones as listed, or starting from the beginning of that author's period without worrying, bc they aren't as indebted to each other storywise.

You can also start somewhere else if you want or check out other single issues on the reading guides; It's not a crime! There's a lot of stuff with different takes and genres, I'm slowly chipping away at the secret wars era bc its just very thick and like a serious television drama attempt, except its also insanely funny sometimes.

(I'm still making my way through it so that's what I have at the moment!)

[brw]

Alright, because Tumblr hates me answering asks now, I'm writing a Simon rec list for someone who requested one here! I've written this as a basic "getting to know Simon" list, with a mix of the most important parts in his history, and issues I consider core characterisation that paint a picture of who Wonder Man is. This means I have left out things that are dynamic specific but don't say too much on Simon specifically, for example his Ms Marvel appearances or later WCA issues with Eric. If you are interested in something like this, please let me know and I'll happily make a further reading kind of list! Additionally, as we get into 2000s I have just given basically every major thing he was ever in, as opposed to 70s through 90s, where I was more discerning. This is because in recent comics, Simon hasn't really been a major player and his opportunities for important roles have become few and far between. This means the characterisation and quality isn't quite there, but it is important bringing you up to speed for modern Simon so they have been included.

Avengers V1 #9, Avengers #151-#153, Avengers V1 Annual 6 — Simon's origin, death, and subsequent revival.

Avengers V1 #160 — Eric Williams, Simon's brother who previously antagonised the Avengers in #52, #78-#79, #102, #106-#108, comes to ask questions about Vision and Simon.

Avengers V1 #164-#166, #181, #197-#198, #203, #211 are all different arcs and issues Simon plays a prominent role in.

Marvel Premiere #55 is Simon's first solo issue.

The Vision and the Scarlet Witch V1 #3 — Simon comes to help an injured Vision. More clearly outlines the dynamic between these two and remains the gold standard for their relationship.

Wonder Man V1 #1 — Simon's first solo series. This one is weird, but is only the second time we see Simon properly alone without the Avengers to help.

West Coast Avengers V1 #1-#4 is Simon joining the WCA, where he would remain for the remainder of the 80s.

The Vision and the Scarlet Witch V2 #1, West Coast Avengers V2 #1, WCA V1 #2 V&SW V2 #2 is an arc dedicated to wrapping up Vision and Simon's relationship. Looks into Simon and Eric's history, establishes their past and Simon's fear of failure. Simon stays a part of West Coast Avengers, so you can read this for as long as you want, although I find the quality slowly goes down the longer it runs but that's just me. Simon does slowly morph into more of an asshole as this series continues, which comes to a head during the White Vision arc by Byrne.

Marvel Graphic Novel - Emperor Doom — Simon finds himself alone after Doom takes over the entire world using mind control and leads the team against him.

Marvel Comics Presents #38-#45. Simon is sexually assaulted by Enchantress in this one, so it's somewhat uncomfortable to read but shows Simon's new 80s asshole personality and contextualises it.

Wonder Man V2 — Simon's only ongoing series to date. Written by Gerard Jones, so it is understandable if you don't want to read this. Builds up a large, dynamic supporting cast for Simon and more thoroughly establishes his relationship to Hollywood and life as an actor. Lasts for 28 issues and two annuals from 1991 to 1993.

Force Works V1 #1 — Honestly you don't actually have to read this, all you have to know is Simon dies and remains dead until...

Avengers V3 #3, #11, #14, #20-#23, #51— Simon's return from the dead. You can pretty much read this series consistently from #11 because he's in it more often than not but those are the issues I'd recommend reading of that series for Simon specifically. He and Wanda break up in #51.

Simon doesn't really do an awful lot aside from Wonder Man V3 by Peter David, which is bad and I genuinely don't recommend reading it because it's events mean very little and Simon's characteristion is... not it. The next thing he's in that's major is the Revengers arc, but before we get there I'm going to give a short overview. Despite being close with Wanda, Simon wasn't really involved with the Decimation. He was there, but not a major player. Simon also wasn't majorly involved with Civil War, aside from a short mini in the C story section of Civil War: Front Line #4-#7. He also ended up joining sides with his brother as a villain in Dark Reign: Lethal Legion, which is a very edgy book but is interesting to read if you're looking for his dynamic with Eric. Despite this overall inactivity, Simon was heavily affected by these situations and the build-up radicalised him, helped along by his ionic form starting to break up and become unstable.

The Revenger arc carries from Avengers V4 #1-#2, #7, New Avengers V2 Annual 1, Avengers V4 Annual 1, and Avengers V4 #31-#34 where he sort of backtracks on everything he did up to that point. There's some cute moments with Janet though.

A+X #12 is a cute team-up between Simon and Hank.

Simon's next big role is in Uncanny Avengers V1. These issues are #7, #9-#12, #21 & #23. Read these if you want, but Remender's characterisation for both Simon and Wanda is... not my preferred, and he gets them back together, so you have to see a lot of them. The main thing you have to know is that Rogue absorbs Simon in #21, and he remains bouncing around in her brain until Uncanny Avengers V3 #22-#23. This is also where Simon's pacifism is established, but to Remender that means just quoting Ghandi with very little introspection of who Simon is as a person.

Uncanny Avengers V3 #28, and the War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery tie-in are his major appearances after this period, aside from a brief cameo in Empyre.

X-Force V6 #49–#50 is the resurrection of 70s Hank McCoy, and Simon plays a prominent role in this conclusion to the series.

Avengers Assemble V3 by Steve Orlando is Simon's first time being on the Avengers proper since, really, Uncanny Avengers V3 in 2017.

So there you are anon! This is essentially all of Simon's major appearances with some fun comics that tell you more about him thrown in. As I said, some stuff has been omitted because unless you're interested in specific dynamics, it doesn't really say an awful lot, but I hope this helps and I really hope you enjoy reading!

[cantsayidont]

December 1977. Given how much Marvel has since pushed Adam Warlock, Thanos, and the Infinity Gems, it's somewhat ironic that Jim Starlin's original Warlock series was rather ignominiously canceled before the story was complete, leaving the conclusion to play out in THE AVENGERS Annual #7 and MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE Annual #2 in the fall of 1977, both magnificently illustrated by Starlin and Joe Rubinstein. Continuing the story into the latter Annual required Starlin to frame his finale as, improbably, a Thing/Spider-Man team-up, but it's Mar-Vell (whose series Starlin had also written and drawn for a while) who delivers the full-page eulogy for Adam Warlock, a minor Kirby character whom Roy Thomas and Starlin had transformed into a tortured cosmic figure, driven by truly existential angst.

Given that Thanos' plot in this story had involved using the combined power of the six Infinity Gems (here still called "Soul Gems") to blow "every star out of the heavens," leaving Adam's vampiric Soul Gem just lying on his grave seems a trifle irresponsible, but at this juncture, Warlock is dead, Thanos has been reduced to a literal monument to his own folly, and none of the survivors understands the full power of the gems. Also, they don't know that the souls of Adam Warlock, Gamora, and Pip the Troll, taken by the Gem before their deaths, now reside in the idyllic landscape of Soul World.

Starlin would subsequently write the end of Mar-Vell in the memorable THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL graphic novel in 1982, which returned Thanos as a kind of psychopomp. Alas, Thanos subsequently became too commercially important a villain (in the comics and later in the dreary live-action movies) to ever stay dead or truly learn from his mistakes.

[imperiuswrecked]

Thanks for your quick reply to my previous ask! I do know the scenes you are referring to, I was just wondering whether he rejected her before writers gave them their back story. I was referring to the follwowing ask: "So uhm, i wonder how did namor got so attracted to Emma? I read one of the issue that Namor basically told Emma to stop throwing herself at him and then I saw him basically throw himself at Emma in X-men title." Maybe you know the scene the person mentioned?

You're welcome, and yes I do know the scene you are referring to.

Emma and Namor first shown together in Secret Invasion (2008) #8

However their first meeting with introductions (pre Emma regaining her memories and the flashback in Uncanny X-Men (1963) Annual 2 (2009)) is in Secret Invasion: Dark Reign which was released a month before in December 2008, so Emma never threw herself at Namor nor was she rejected by Namor prior to their past relationship reveal in January 2009.

(I know Namor looks bad here, I know. But the artist apologized later so I try to forget it exists. lol.)

Uncanny X-Men (1963) Annual 2 (2009)

As you see it's Emma who rejected Namor's advances the first two times they met.

The scene you're looking for is in Namor: The First Mutant (2010) #2, set during the Utopia Era, where Alantis was rebuilt under the island the X-Men were on, supporting the pillar/base of the island from sinking into the sea. Emma visits Namor in New Atlantis with Loa, a mutant who sorta becomes Namor's sidekick during this era. So yes, Namor rejects Emma but it's after the Cabal Era.

This line doesn't make sense with literally every other appearance from Namor and Emma's meetings and throughout the Namor's X-Men era, he's smitten with Emma, always paying Emma compliments, trying to seduce her away from Scott. They have always had this sharp playful banter and crazy chemistry together.

Uncanny X-Men (2012) #2-3

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #527

Uncanny X-Men (1963) Annual 2 (2009)

However the writer did want to take Namor in a different direction and be romantically involved with their character, the Atlantean Logomancer, Abira, who was the main female romance for this series so I suppose that's why he wrote this, because otherwise it makes no sense when Namor was literally defending Emma's honor in her absence like in Uncanny X-Men (1963) #528.

The Namor/Emma/Scott love triangle has it's cringe moments, but generally I really love and enjoy the Namor and Emma moments. I def have critic of how Emma is written in the First Mutant series, the writer literally refers to her as The Whore to Sue's Madonna, and the whole love triangle in general in X-Men comics, because Marvel likes to use Namor to stir up romance drama for couples.